Government: IT Project Management: Adopting Lightweight Methods

The Office of Management and Budget is taking steps to institute more rigorous IT project and program management in federal government. Its objectives include designing a formal IT program management career path that's on par with how things are done in the private sector and establishing integrated program teams.

OBM’s TechStat reviews seek to reduce wasteful spending by turning around troubled IT programs or terminating them. OMB hopes to break long-term, monolithic IT projects into modular initiatives that deliver functionality in months, not years. Programs designed to deliver initial functionality after years of planning are "doomed," the federal CIO said.

In solving this problem, managers at government agencies must strike a balance between accountability and productivity. Whether your organization adopts the Scrum project management methodology or Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK), shorter cycle times, less paperwork and focused effort are the order of the day. (S3240811)